Sharing housing offers single parents smoother sailing over many of the pressures of their lives. Its a unique group of benefits we don’t usually include as a benefit of shared housing, but that can be a major positive for people in this situation. There are three main benefits that make life easier.
1
The first big benefit for single parents who share housing is that they get to live in a better space than they could afford on their own. For some this means access to better schools, transportation and the outdoors. For others it may mean literally more space for living. It can also meant that the parent has more money for the other necessities of life such as food, clothing, and transportation.
2
The second benefit is that the children can play together. This of course depends on the ages and genders of the youngsters, but even children of different ages, when thrown together, figure out how to do stuff. (That is, if they are not addicted to television and video games, but that’s a different issue.) The nice part for the parent is that when children are occupied with each other, they are not seeking parental attention. In one shared housing arrangement, the two adults each have part-time custody of their children. The children enjoy being together so much, and each parent finds it so much easier when both children are there, that the parents synchronized their custody arrangements.
3
The third benefit is that the parent has another adult at home. Depending on the housemate relationship, she may have another person to talk to about her adult life. She can have someone to exchange babysitting so that she can go out while the adult is home and then reciprocate the favor. For quick errands she can leave the child at home with the other adult rather than have to disrupt the child to accompany her. The other adult can simply be there.
Choosing to share housing with another parent is a great idea.
Do you have a story about single parents banding together? Tell it below.
For more about living with family and reasons to share housing, check out these articles: Single Moms: Find Others to Share Housing , Living Alone is Overrated
Last Updated on June 27, 2021 by Annamarie
Leave a Reply